After playing just two games and winning both in dominant fashion, No. 3 Ohio State will be off this weekend as it enjoys the first of two scheduled bye this season.

Coaches often utilize bye weeks to allow their teams to rest after an extended run featuring at least a handful of games. This season is anything but standard, however, and both the timing of the first bye week and the existence of a second off week next month have led Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day and his coaching staff to approach this week as more business as usual, dubbing it an “improvement week” rather than one heavy on mental reps and physical recovery.

“We don’t usually have two bye weeks,” Day said during his Tuesday press conference. “I think there was a year when we did have two bye weeks. But especially this early in the season, these guys are hungry. They don’t want to rest right now. They feel like they have momentum coming out of this game (last week).

“Now, at the same time, we’re not going to practice on Friday or Saturday, so they do get the opportunity to catch their breath. But we are going to work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday because they understand how important this is and how early it is in the season. And they don’t want to lose their edge either. They know they have to get better. When you have a group of veterans guys who understand that we’re only two games in and have a long way to go, they get that and embrace it.”

One of the prevailing themes from Ohio State’s wins over Akron and Western Michigan has been the vast number of players seeing game reps. At every turn this offseason, Day has emphasized the importance of building depth throughout the roster in preparation for an unprecedented 16- or 17-game run for whoever ultimately claims the national championship.

With both games well in hand early in the third quarter, the Ohio State coaching staff has backed up its constant reminders of the arduous road ahead by playing essentially everyone who’s proved themselves in preseason camp and into the season. In some cases, Ohio State had no choice but to test its two-deep roster depth due to injuries to starters or, in the case of cornerback Denzel Burke last week, a game-ending targeting penalty in the first half that led to his ejection.

Although they may have a solid sample size already on film and ready to be evaluated, Day said continuing to bring those depth pieces along will be a focal point as the bye week progresses.

“We’ll get the guys who are the ones and twos and the older guys some reps, but they know how important it is when Denzel Burke gets taken out of the game and Jermaine (Mathews Jr.) has to step up and come into the game,” he said. “That’s just one example. (Sophomore guard) Austin Siereveld had to play the first couple of games because Donovan (Jackson) was out. (Sophomore linebacker) Arvell Reese got thrust into duty. I think you saw guys at the end of the game like (freshman cornerback) Aaron Scott got his hands on some balls. You saw the running backs run well. You saw (freshman safety) Jaylen McClain make a tackle for loss. So we need to continue to work to get better. We have a long way to go.”

Of course, that’s not to say the starters won’t see their share of work this week. Day continued to emphasize the work-in-progress nature of his team as a whole, especially with respect to the significant upgrade in talent the Buckeyes will begin facing in the weeks ahead.

“That still includes the older guys, too,” he said of what needs to be accomplished this week. “These guys want to get better and continue to work on it, so the positional coaches will let them know what they feel like they need to focus on this week, and then we go from there.”

Day later added, “People say (the season) is a marathon, but it’s not. It’s 12 straight sprints as hard as you can possibly go … They know this is just the beginning. We’re literally just getting out of the starting gates.”

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.